Dorney Park being sold to rival amusement firm

Owners of an Ohio amusement park that snatched the title for the tallest wooden roller coaster in the world from Dorney Park last summer scored an even larger victory yesterday: They reached an agreement to buy Dorney Park.

Details of the sale of the park and Wildwater Kingdom to Cedar Fair -- which operates parks in Sandusky, Ohio, and the Minneapolis- St. Paul area -- were not available last night.

Dorney Park officials acknowledged the planned sale of the park, which is more than century old, in a three-paragraph statement released last night. They declined to release the sale price or terms of the transfer, or even to say whether Dorney would remain an amusement park.

Cedar Fair, identified by Dorney officials as a Delaware partnership, operates Cedar Point park on Lake Erie between Cleveland and Toledo, and Valleyfair near Minneapolis-St. Paul. Cedar Point opened the Mean Streak wooden rollercoaster last summer, which beat out Dorney's Hercules as the tallest coaster in the world.

Dorney Park President Harris Weinstein -- who spent the last 6-1/ 2 years injecting millions into the park -- did not return several phone calls last night.

Under Weinstein's tenure, Dorney added several new rides and attractions, including a record-breaking $6 million, 157-foot tall roller coaster and a 701-foot long water slide, a theater and a Ferris wheel 90 feet high. Wildwater Kingdom opened in 1985, shortly after Weinstein assumed 50 percent ownership of the park.

Richard Kinzel, chairman of Cedar Point, could not be reached for comment last night. His wife said in a telephone interview that he was on a plane returning home from Dorney.

News of the sale came as a surprise to employees, who learned at a meeting yesterday. But officials from South Whitehall Township -- home to the amusement park -- said they had suspected a sale was coming for some time.

Steve Okun, president of the board, asked Weinstein publicly more than a year ago if the park was to be sold. Weinstein said he was not considering a sale.

The wife of a manager at the park said in a telephone conversation last night that Weinstein had been trying to sell the park for months.

"It doesn't surprise me," said township commissioner Allen Zimmerman. "Harris has a house in Florida, and he spends a lot of time down there. I heard rumblings a couple years ago that they were going to sell."

Township commissioners and park officials have clashed bitterly under Weinstein's tenure in and out of court. They fought over taxes. They fought over procedures. They fought over noise -- a consultant even was called in to take measurements.

Weinstein aimed at turning the park into the "Disneyland of the Northeast" as he promised on the day he announced his ownership, much to the dismay of neighbors, who complained to township commissioners. Dorney officials countered that it was unfair for the township to apply zoning laws to amusement rides; it was unfair, for example, to make a Ferris wheel comply with a height ordinance, they said.

But the rocky relationship took a turn for the better in recent months, Okun said, and he hopes the township will enjoy positive relations with the new owner.

"I think both sides established an empathy for each other," Okun said, "and realized the futility of misunderstandings."

He said he would like the new owners to realize that South Whitehall is not just a "marketplace," but a "residential community."

Dorney officials would not comment last night on the financial condition of the park.

In September 1990, the park laid off some of its year-round employees, including its chief spokesman. At the time, Weinstein said, "It certainly isn't any indication of trouble down the road."

Weinstein, who talked as excitedly as a child on Christmas morning when unveiling a new ride or scheme for Dorney, was a fixture in the park during the summer season. He spent early morning until late evening riding through the park in a jeep, using his hands-on management style.

Last summer, he took the inaugural ride on the Pepsi Aquablast -- the park's latest attraction -- in a dress shirt and tie.

"I hope (the new owners) will be as enthusiastic about the park as Harris Weinstein was," said Richard Stevens, a lawyer who has represented the park in the past. "Whoever is the new buyer has a good act to follow."

Dorney Park serves more than 1 million guests per year, mostly from eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. The two Cedar Fair parks entertain about 4.1 million guests per year, according to release from Dorney.

Jean Harries, of Allentown, who also owns part of the stock in the park, could not be reached for comment last night. Family members contacted declined comment.

Harries is the widow of Stephen Plarr, a former president of Dorney Park. The Plarr family has been involved in the park's ownership since 1903.